Is anyone else drinking alcohol while caregiving?

Mom's had 2 beers tonight. She's being nice. It's a good night....so far.

moms bipolar is showing its ass tonight. id like a quaalude and a quart of beer..
made her the best damn chili and it made her cry. im used to it. she ate the chili and now shes smiling. its a rock and roll damnation.. ( sigh ) .

Well, it's 5 o'clock here in the OC. You know what that means..
Singing tonight so I'll just have one teeny weeny Chardonnay :)
Cheers and Blessings to all, and may your evening be Peaceful. xo

Eyeirshlass~Congrats to you!!! I come from an alcoholic family and as an adult I stayed away from it. However, I do enjoy a couple beers twice a month. Usually it is when I am doing yard work, it just seems appropriate after a sweaty workout in the yard or hard day. I tried pot in my teens but it always made me paranoid. I didn't like that feeling so I didn't smoke it anymore. It was a weird feeling that I was being watched through windows in the house, LOL!!

Stay strong eyerishlass! Would going to a meeting help you? Even if you have not gone before? I know you are going through a lot right now. But you sound very strong so I am sure you will be fine just-- reach out for help if you need it. Blessings to you. (((((( eyerishlass))))))

Hi again, my husband was just saying you can get it in pill form and some people eat it roasted on salads. I guess it has a nutty flavor. I really do not know. We really did look into this as an option for me and our girl but, alas, our state is lagging behind on the trend of legalizing . And I would not use street pot because A. It is illegal B. who knows what you are actually getting and C. All the violence associated with the selling of it illegally. but I know many people who do.

I was 11 years sober when my dad moved in with me. 16 years sober when he went into the nursing home and through all those years the only time I ever craved a drink was caregiver related. I didn't drink because I knew I'd be blacked out out on the sofa for the next week but caregiving almost drove me back to drinking.

But for those of you who can have wine or whatever, cheers to you!! I'd love a glass a wine but I can't have just one. I think whatever gets your through.....pot, wine, etc. If you don't have a problem with it enjoy it! And have one for me!

Of course I have a prescription and yes, Mom would love to try it for her aches, pains and anxiety. She has asked many times.Unfortunately she has COPD, but I never thought of brownies. She is diabetic, so they might not be palatable with artificial sweeteners. I think many would be helped and it would be a lot safer than so many of the other drugs they are on.

BoniChak- I am seriously thinking of moving to Michigan so I can get medical marajuana ! - because, of course you have a script for that pot!!, right ( say 'right') I am serus about wishing I could get a script for it -actually I wish I could get one for my daughter. Her psychiatrist wants to put her on Resperdal(sp?). My daughter has been having violent episodes for the last 6mos. . I know I know-not a great drug but neither is being hit, spit on or pushed BUT more importantly , neither is seeing my poor girl wishing she could stop hitting , spitting and pushing but not be able to. I really think that if Pot were legal I would get her a mediacl prescription and try tht before Resperdal. -to ingest. And , to bring it back to this forum- how many of you think your elders in care -who won't eat and are anxious and combative would be helped by eating some pot brownies? I know I think my mom would be a lot more relaxed and gain some much needed weight!!

I don't drink, but a puff or two on my pot pipe helps get me through the tougher days. I still have my wits in case of an emergency, but it sure helps with the stress.

No, I don't drink, but cigarettes are my weakness. I used to go to a shopping center about a mile from my parents home, and sit in my car and smoke a couple of cigarettes. I had smoked a lot when I was much younger, but don't smoke much anymore. I think I had one (again in my car) last Thanksgiving. I'm sure having a drink helps you unwind, and alcohol in moderation is good for the heart.

Yes, Dunwoody is. Sorry , Dunwoody but you often joke about your vodka therapy. ;0)

I used to drink at night. I would put my girl to bed and my husband and I would step outside on our deck and drink some wine and smoke our cigarettes. Our daughter has significant special needs and so we do not go out -it was rather nice but then we started drinking too much and smoking too much and so I pulled the plug. Yes, I am making my husband quit too and he is not by happy about it. But it was getting to the point where if something happened and we needed to drive somewhere for our girl we would not have been able to and that really scared me. And we a older now-we hit the big 4-0 and really needed to quit smoking. We were part time smokers anyway. But , it should be noted that I am kinda crazy. Seriously. I am OCD and I got it into my head that God would be very very mad at us for smoking and possibly dying from it when our girl needs us to live , well, forever because of her needs. I started to think that God would punish us if we did not quit -and by that I mean take our girl from us. See, I pray every night for my girl to be happy and healthy and I get all messed up in my OCD head that if I am not perfect God will not listen to my prayers. And I mixed this up with the knowledge that I needed to quit smoking. I know this is crazy but I cannot help but keep thinking it. Yes, I am on medication.

So that is why we no longer drink. We only smoked when we drank. If we drink we smoke. They went hand in hand. And actually my husband still sneaks out at night and smokes some and enjoys an occasional beer it not like he used to. But my OCD is keeping me from drinking and smoking. How weird is that. I guess it is a good outcome for a bad reason.

Do you mean are we driven to drink? At what time during the day do you begin to drink? I always wait until 5 pm while I am fixing dinner. However, I am not hands-on caregiving for my Mother anymore, but that is the time I get home from visiting her in the care home. The emotional stress is still there, but not the physical.
When she was with me in our home, I did not think about drinking, as I was "still on." Know what I mean?
In retrospect, after placing her in a care home, and after a mild form of PTSD set in: YES, I do.

Yes! if you need a glass of wine or a cocktail, I think you should definitely have one. not saying you should get drunk but by all means, in my opinion, I don't see anything wrong with having one drink to get you through.